Life
Travel

Newfoundland’s ’Crossroads of the World’

Sue Bailey, THE CANADIAN PRESS

Tuesday, November 29, 2016
12:00:00 EST AM

Wreckage of a Douglas DC-4 adorns the site of the deadly Belgian airline Sabena crash which occurred on Sept. 18, 1946, about 35 kilometres southwest of Gander, N.L., in this August 20, 2016, handout image. The Sabena may be included in a new map and smart phone guide being designed to help visitors find more than 20 historical aviation sites in the region. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Doug Kavanagh

The DC-4 was en route to New York from Brussels when it tried to land in rain, wind and heavy cloud cover at the airport in Gander for refuelling. Small crosses still mark where 26 passengers and crew who died at the crash scene were buried because thick woods made removing the bodies so difficult.

Heroic efforts to save 18 people still alive when rescuers reached them more than 36 hours after the accident included one of the first uses of helicopters in such a mission. Seventeen of them survived.

The Sabena made international headlines as one of the most deadly commercial airline crashes of its day. It is one of several sites around Gander — a town of about 12,000 people in central Newfoundland — that draw visitors from around the globe who want to learn about its aviation history.

Gander’s airport was among the largest in the world in 1940 and was a vital staging ground to ferry thousands of aircraft from North America to Britain during the Second World War.

In later years, it was a refuelling point for transatlantic flights carrying everyone from Fidel Castro to the Beatles. Gander became known as the “Crossroads of the World” before jumbo jets that could make longer trips diminished traffic to its sprawling airfield.

Frank Tibbo, a retired air traffic controller in Gander, wrote the book “Charlie Baker George: The Story of Sabena OOCBG.” He has visited the isolated crash site as a guide several times in helicopters rented by relatives of those who died.

It’s also possible to approach the Sabena on ATV and hike the rest of the way in, he said in an interview.

“A lot of people, when they get there, they sort of stop in awe. Such a horrific incident took place in 1946. I think they still feel the effects of that when they get there.”

Tibbo said it’s important to maintain such sites both for their historical importance and as respectful testaments to those who perished.

The Silent Witness memorial, a short drive just outside Gander, has been erected where Arrow Air Flight 1285 went down on Dec. 12, 1985, killing 248 U.S. troops and eight crew. A divided Canadian Aviation Safety Board blamed ice on the aircraft’s wings, but a dissenting report raised the prospect of an onboard explosion.

Exhibits at the North Atlantic Aviation Museum on the town’s main highway trace construction of the Gander International Airport, its role in the Second World War and transatlantic passenger travel.

There is also a section on the extraordinary hospitality shown by residents as 38 planes with almost 6,600 passengers were diverted to Gander during the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. A piece of steel from the World Trade Center was donated in thanks and is on permanent display.

Councillor Sarah McBreairty said the Town of Gander is creating a map and smartphone guide to help visitors find more than 20 places of aviation interest in the region.

“We’re recognizing that Gander is history. Gander is heritage,” she said in an interview. “That’s what we’re recognized for.”

One issue is balancing access to certain sites with a need to protect them from looters in search of metal, copper wiring or souvenirs, McBreairty said.

“Throughout the years, we’ve had a lot of equipment, a lot of planes, mechanical equipment in Gander that was kind of left here. People have sold those for parts.

“Preventing people from further destruction of these archeologically significant sites is key.”